EL NIÑO/SOUTHERN OSCILLATION (ENSO) DIAGNOSTIC DISCUSSION issued by CLIMATE PREDICTION CENTER/NCEP/NWS and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society
10 September 2015
ENSO Alert System Status: El Niño Advisory
Synopsis: There is an approximately 95% chance that El Niño will continue through Northern Hemisphere winter 2015-16, gradually weakening through spring 2016.
During August, sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies were near or greater than +2.0°C across the eastern half of the tropical Pacific (Fig. 1). SST anomalies increased in the Niño-3.4 and Niño 3-regions, were approximately unchanged in the Niño-4 region, and decreased in the Niño-1+2 region (Fig. 2). Large positive subsurface temperature anomalies persisted in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific during the month (Fig. 3), with the largest departures exceeding 6°C (Fig. 4). The atmosphere remained coupled to the anomalous oceanic warmth, with significant low-level westerly wind anomalies and upper-level easterly wind anomalies persisting from the western to east-central tropical Pacific. Also, the traditional and equatorial Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) were again negative, consistent with enhanced convection over the central and eastern equatorial Pacific and suppressed convection over Indonesia (Fig. 5). Collectively, these atmospheric and oceanic anomalies reflect a strong El Niño.
All models surveyed predict El Niño to continue into the Northern Hemisphere spring 2016, and all multi-model averages predict a peak in late fall/early winter (3-month values of the Niño-3.4 index of +1.5°C or greater; Fig. 6). The forecaster consensus unanimously favors a strong El Niño, with peak 3-month SST departures in the Nino 3.4 region near or exceeding +2.0°C. Overall, there is an approximately 95% chance that El Niño will continue through Northern Hemisphere winter 2015-16, gradually weakening through spring 2016 (click CPC/IRI consensus forecast for the chance of each outcome for each 3-month period).
Across the contiguous United States, temperature and precipitation impacts associated with El Niño are expected to remain minimal during the early Northern Hemisphere fall and increase into the late fall and winter (the 3-month seasonal outlook will be updated on Thursday September 17th). El Niño will likely contribute to a below normal Atlantic hurricane season, and to above-normal hurricane seasons in both the central and eastern Pacific hurricane basins (click Hurricane season outlook for more).
This discussion is a consolidated effort of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NOAA’s National Weather Service, and their funded institutions. Oceanic and atmospheric conditions are updated weekly on the Climate Prediction Center web site (El Niño/La Niña Current Conditions and Expert Discussions). Forecasts are also updated monthly in the Forecast Forum of CPC’s Climate Diagnostics Bulletin. Additional perspectives and analysis are also available in an ENSO blog. The next ENSO Diagnostics Discussion is scheduled for 8 October 2015. To receive an e-mail notification when the monthly ENSO Diagnostic Discussions are released, please send an e-mail message to: ncep.list.enso-update@noaa.gov.
Climate Prediction Center
National Centers for Environmental Prediction
NOAA/National Weather Service
College Park, MD 20740
Figure 1. Average sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies (°C) for the week centered on 2 September 2015. Anomalies are computed with respect to the 1981-2010 base period weekly means.
Figure 2. Time series of area-averaged sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies (°C) in the Niño regions [Niño-1+2 (0°-10°S, 90°W-80°W), Niño 3 (5°N-5°S, 150°W-90°W), Niño-3.4 (5°N-5°S, 170°W-120°W), Niño-4 (5ºN-5ºS , 150ºW-160ºE]. SST anomalies are departures from the 1981-2010 base period weekly means.
Figure 3. Area-averaged upper-ocean heat content anomaly (°C) in the equatorial Pacific (5°N-5°S, 180º-100ºW). The heat content anomaly is computed as the departure from the 1981-2010 base period pentad means.
Figure 4. Depth-longitude section of equatorial Pacific upper-ocean (0-300m) temperature anomalies (°C)
centered on the pentad of 31 August 2015. The anomalies are averaged between 5°N-5°S. Anomalies are departures from the 1981-2010 base period pentad means.
Figure 5. Average outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) anomalies (W/m2) for the period 6 – 31 August 2015. OLR anomalies are computed as departures from the 1979-1995 base period pentad means.
Figure 6. Forecasts of sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies for the Niño 3.4 region (5°N-5°S, 120°W-170°W). Figure updated 18 August 2015.
I find it interesting that the Jason Sea level residuals, a good proxy for SST’s, spend the year moving east towards the South American coast and now appear to have moved west from July 21. sealevel.jpl.nasa.gov/science/elninopdo/latestdata/archive/ Latest date is 20 Aug, they are slow in updating, be fascinating to see if this trend continues.
They haven’t a clue. They predicted it would happen in 12/13/14 (at least in Australia, BOM did). Then they predicted this one was going to be HUGE…now they’re predicting weather outcomes. Pathetic.
… and the ENSO meter is rapidly declining from its high.
What Charles said. They really, REALLY wanted it to be ‘the biggest one yet!’ – just like those who said ‘Solar Cycle is gonna be Robust**’. And yet now it isn’t even going to be as big as the 97 / 98 one http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/09/10/science/ap-us-sci-el-nino.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0
** – I’ve come to see use of the word ‘Robust’ as meaning they haven’t got the slightest clue but want people to be Scared of the weather anyway.
Robust nearly always means don’t look any more deeply, move on please, this matter has been put in a box marked settled
‘Robust Fear?’
They robustly played on our fears.
This list does not include ‘robust’ but is a fun read. I can’t remember the original source, credit goes to the internet I suppose.
Scientific Jargon
The following list of phrases and their definitions will help you to understand that mysterious language of science and medicine.
“IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN”…I didn’t look up the original reference.
“A DISTINCT TREND IS EVIDENT”…These data are practically meaningless.
“WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS”…An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it published.
“THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY”… The results of the others did not make any sense.
“TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN”…This is the prettiest graph.
“THESE RESULTS WILL BE IN A SUBSEQUENT REPORT”… I might get around to this sometime, if pushed/funded.
“THE MOST RELIABLE RESULTS ARE OBTAINED BY JONES”…He was my graduate student; his grade depended on this.
“IN MY EXPERIENCE”…Once.
“IN CASE AFTER CASE”…Twice.
“IN A SERIES OF CASES”…Thrice.
“IT IS BELIEVED THAT”…I think.
“IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT”…A couple of other guys think so too.
“CORRECT WITHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE”…Wrong.
“ACCORDING TO STATISTICAL ANALYSIS”…Rumor has it.
“A STATISTICALLY ORIENTED PROJECTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FINDINGS”…A wild guess.
“A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF OBTAINABLE DATA”…Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of beer.
“IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE REQUIRED BEFORE A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PHENOMENA OCCURS”… I don’t understand it.
“AFTER ADDITIONAL STUDY BY MY COLLEAGUES”…They don’t understand it either.
“THANKS ARE DUE TO JOE BLOTZ FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE EXPERIMENT AND TO ANDREA SCHAEFFER FOR VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS” ….Mr. Blotz did the work and Ms. Schaeffer explained to me what it meant.
“A HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AREA FOR EXPLORATORY STUDY”…A totally useless topic selected by my committee.
“IT IS HOPED THAT THIS STUDY WILL STIMULATE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IN THIS FIELD”…But I quit!
ROBUST: Cherry picked to get the results wanted.
ROFL! thanks
A POWERFUL NEW TOOL HAS BEEN DEVELOPED, HOEVER MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED. … We think it’s really neat – send more money.
Been there, done that have the T-Shirt.
I think you have it right. At least 97% probability.
I read this (or a similar list) back in the 1960s, and that definitely pre-dates the internet. Unfortunately, I can’t remember where I read it. Fortunately, http://www.science20.com/genomicron/guide_translating_scientific_papers_plain_english-28033 cites: Graham, CD. 1957. A glossary for research reports. Metal Progress 71: 75 (a link points to http://www.astro.rug.nl/~terlouw/glossary.html, which appears to be the source of the citation).
And yes, that’s the real name of a journal.
Think of all the money The Weather Channel’s been raking in since they’ve conditioned the populace to be Scared! of the weather. Pathetic . . . and the sheeple keep falling for it.
At least they made a testable prediction.
That means they are doing real science. Let’s wait and see.
They rejigger the past to match their predictions so no, it isn’t ‘real science’ at all.
yep,and it is failing. the integrity test is will they admit that or spin it into something positive. if they want to know whether el nino conditions are gathering pace or declining,they would be better monitoring reruitment of certain fish species in key areas year on year.
being a dumb ill educated ordinary punter i will leave it up to the clever people to work out which species 😉
And so on the basis that they never get any forecasts right, we can confidently predict …
If they are predicting less hurricanes you can bet we will get more.
With certainty.
Is someone cleverer than me plotting the enso meter against the plume graph?
El Nino is causing moderate heat/dryness here in the east US, but I’ll cheer it if it moderates our recent fairly brutal winters. Feb 2015 was 4th coldest here since records began in 1898, and even the coldest in some nearby areas.
“Oceanic and atmospheric conditions are updated weekly on the Climate Prediction Center web site”
I guess they get paid more by calling it Climate, and not the Weather, which it is.
A moderate El Nino and a negative NAO should produce a freezing European winter, but probably not in time for the Paris high jinks.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/pna/nao_index.html
Let me see now … a “diagnostic discussion” … issued by a “climate prediction center” !
I think NOT.
El nino is back and this should bring dry conditions throughout eastern Australia but there’s no sign of it yet. Rain week in, week out along the east coast for years now has not produced a comment from anyone.
The Indian Ocean Dipole is favorable however and currently there are constant fronts and troughs crossing west to east bring rainstorms to Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart and an incredible snow season to the Australian alps.
This has not stopped TV meteorologists mentioning some isolated place with below average rainfall pathetically clinging to their failed predictions from yesteryear.
its patchy rains though..crops nth of nhil/warraknabeal have been declared gone, n stock in to graze, other areas are soaked n things might be ok.
still hoping for the usual soggy spring where I am.
I bring up this exact point with every El Nino update here.
On the East Coast of NSW it has just not been an El Nino like year at all. The water in the Indian is still above average (creating those beautiful troughs that move across the country), and the water off the East coast is still warm (allowing those troughs to turn into East-coast lows when they get here, bringing more rain).
It’s been cool, wet and all around lovely. I expect the hot, dry October (which we get every year) to once again bring about media proclamations of imminent doom, only for another mild summer to follow.
Thanks, Anthony. This continues last month’s prediction.
Our coming winter may have similarities to the 1997/1998 winter . The west will be warm , the south wet
http://www1.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/techrpts/tr9802/tr9802.pdf
But I think the eastern half of US and Canada will be more like the past winter cold and lots of snow
Wait, is someone saying that El Ninos/La Ninas have an effect on the climate?
Good thing they incorporated that effect in the Climate models that have predicted/projected continued warming.
Oh, wait….
/sarc
Obviously this is what they want to happen and then I read ‘all models sampled forecast….’ There you have it – the fabled models and not just that, selected ones since there were others they didn’t sample. And what did they say? Answers on a postcard.
There is a very strong El Nino right now and it takes time for an El Nino to build up and then to dissipate. It will continue for several more months at least.
There is still a lot of very warm water in the Pacific equatorial undercurrent which has not surfaced yet and will continue to do so into the foreeable future maintaining the El Nino and, perhaps, even strengthening it more. Traditionally, 80% of ENSO events peak in the November to February period so the seasonality would say that it will continue for several more months. Unlike last year’s interrupted El Nino, there is little cold water in the eastern Pacific to cool it off.
The best indicator of where the ENSO is going to go is how much warm water there is in this undercurrent and this leads the Nino 3.4 Index by 1 to 2 months very consistently. Back to 1982 here, and these measures are all over +2.0C right now which would place it in the top ten El Ninos ever recorded.
http://s23.postimg.org/66t6lxixn/Nino_3_4_vs_EUOTA_Aug_2015.png
Those are very sensible comments.
After all, it is an ‘el Nino’ due to peaking around Christmas. Thus the ‘baby Jesus’ name for it.
As the Blob is dissipating right under own noses…
http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/data/sst/anomaly/2015/anomnight.9.10.2015.gif
Note the cold blob in the NW Pacific. If my memory serves me right 3 or 4 years ago there was a warm blob shown in a similar location that traveled across to Alaska and is now the warm blob off the west coast of USA.
The NH Pacific seems to rotate/flow in a clockwise direction. Everyone may already know that but I don’t recall having seen it discussed.
Why wasn’t ’97’ used? I demand to know why ’97’ wasn’t used! Everyone knows that nobody will believe our faked-up percentage if we don’t use the number 97!
Top picture: When Americans make these pretty weather graphs they must put lots of extra coding effort into stopping at the Canadian border.
they must put lots of extra coding effort
==============
nope. as the Seasonal Outlook shows, conditions in Canada will be normal from coast to coast. The abnormal conditions are limited to the US and Alaska only, because climate change is a result of Americans burning fossil fuels. The climate in Canada is so shztty to start with, it doesn’t matter what we burn. Any change would be an improvement.
And all that shztty weather comes right out of Canada and into upstate NY where I live. BRRRR.
This is a reply to emsnews, who complained about the shztty weather from Canada freezing upstate New York. I am a Canadian who lived in Washington, D.C. for four years. Evert winter, the Washington news media complained bitterly about the “cold wave coming down from Canada” to make people’s lives miserable. However, in the summertime, when it generally was sweltering hot, did I once hear a news report about the “nice refreshing cool breeze coming from Canada”? Noooooooo.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/predictions/long_range/seasonal.php?lead=4
I’m not believing this prediction. At least not for our area.
The combined prediction of a dry and warm winter for the Pacific North West is simply not realistic. Warm winters in our area are ALWAYS wet. Cold winters are ALWAYS dry. It is the rain that moderates the temperatures in the PNW. No rain, hot summers and cold winters. Rain, cold summers and warm winters.
Drought in the upper Midwest is very much appreciated in the winter time because I don’t have to shovel it.
Well, dry and warm does happen in the PacNW winters but rarely. usually a stronger El Nino means
the Pineapple clipper train is coming…
sometimes a split flow in the jet happens and NW Oregon and all of Washington get wetter and southern Oregon, but the dryness is in the middle…
Here is a different fall and winter forecast
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/fall-2015-how-our-forecast-compares-with-the-competition/56536/
Are these temperatures “adjusted” as well like GISS ala Hansen? Or are they Raw?
These are the “new adjusted” ones from the NCDC/NOAA.
Previously, the NCDC hadn’t mucked around with the historical ENSO numbers very much because of its importance and its long history of actual ship measurements, Peru fishing statistics, the relationship with the long-measured Southern Oscillation Index etc. Because of this, the previous ENSO SST statistics had no real trend going back 150 years. One of the few places in the world which had no global warming trend in the record.
But the new adjusted statistics have changed the history of the ENSO so it is a very big problem in my mind. There is still very little trend in terms of global warming but all the individual ENSO events through time appear to be out of phase and changed from the previous numbers.
Thank you! I should have waited a bit longer to expand my question, you answered it perfectly
Mark said:
“”Are these temperatures “adjusted” as well like GISS ala Hansen? Or are they Raw?””
Embarrassingly I am not being snarky, I know SST and GISS are different (sea/air) what I mean is are they using any of the heavily politically adjusted data or invented data or raw data? Was it in a seperate model based on sea surface temperatures and ENSO prediction, or are they cadging the climaprophets climate prediction models somehow? Just trying to keep up.
http://weather.gc.ca/data/saisons/images/2015091100_054_G6_global_I_SEASON_tm@lg@sd_000.png
look at the cool water off s. america.
Yes, the patch of blue cold water right off of Ecuador is clearer here than on the NOAA maps which also shows it. Is this the ‘la Nina’ turnover happening already? And do note that Hudson Bay is cooling down rapidly.
That is the question. This has to be watched.
Niño 4 has been generally cooling since it peaked in late April. Niño 1+2 the same since mid July. Niño 3 is still warming, But Niño 3.4 cooled last week and if it does again this week, I will start asking if the El Niño has peaked early. Typically the peak temp of Niño 3.4 occurs during November or December, but this El Niño has had different timing, so I wouldn’t be surprised.
The water off of South America is cooling, pushing the warmth back towards the central Pacific. Also look at the waters around Australia and Indonesia, there is warming water there. These suggest that conditions are starting to reverse, but we must wait until the SOI climbs suddenly and then we can say it is over.
also note warm anomalies shown for sea of cortez not borne out by various colder water bait fish species present at the moment.
It looks like the southern half of the Warm Blob broke away and is headed down to mate with the equatorial plume.
just to mention the blue area in the North Atlantic ocean almost borders the same area where the polar ocean gyre set up during the Younger Dryas. The Gulf stream flowed south and east of blue area towards southern Spain and north Africa.
The should use 97% and stick to it.
Yeah, I know, right?! This is toadally inconsistent and problematic!
Jetstream reduces the impact of El Niño in America.
http://squall.sfsu.edu/scripts/namjetstream_model_fcst.html
WASHINGTON — Federal forecasters upgraded this year’s El Nino to an unusual strong status, but said it’s probably not a record breaker or drought buster. Mike Halpert, deputy director of the federal Climate Prediction Center, said the current worldwide weather shifting event doesn’t match the monster El Nino of 1997-1998, nor is it likely to. With even warmer waters in the central Pacific in August, the hottest in more than 17 years, the prediction center moved the El Nino up from moderate status. So far the El Nino is the third strongest on record, behind 1997-98 and a weird one in 1987-88 that peaked early.
Here is scientific jargon I well remember from my Physics professors: “It is is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer”, meaning “I don’t feel like writing out all the steps for solving this equation, so you knuckleheads will just have to take my word for it.”
What are the ENSO indications from the anchovy fishery off Peru?
http://www.undercurrentnews.com/2015/09/09/anchovy-migrating-south-due-to-stronger-el-nino/?utm_source=Undercurrent+News+Alerts&utm_campaign=67653bf083-Pelagics_roundup_Sep_11_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_feb55e2e23-67653bf083-92440397
It looks like the fishery, while moving southwards a little, remains in robust health – such that they are even considering bringing forward the next fishing season. Hardly consistent with a strong el Nino (when one expects a crash of the fishery).
The predicted ENSO peak in Oct-Nov would be anomalous – peaks are usually either July or Jan.
Hoping, praying, doing a rain dance …. may need to wash my truck.
respects, MJB, you’re weathered.
Contribution:
“THE SCIENCE IS SETTLED”… Where is the emergency exit
____
Hans
what about “The Blob” in the northeast Pacific?
if it’s still there, it’s likely not going to rain very much in #Failifornia…
redc1c4
I am more interested in wondering if the “blob” (A noted warmer spot of warmer surface ocean water across the north Pacific in Jan-Feb-Mar-Apr 2015 lead to the unusually low but very broad Arctic sea ice peak in those same months of the year. The low Arctic sea ice was caused by a notable LACK of sea ice in the Sea of Othotsk north of Japan’s Kurile Islands. The rest of the Arctic sea ice this psring was very close to normal for the last 8 years.
I’ve been reviewing video of the Mecca crane collapse. I’m thinking it might have been either a microburst or a rain wrapped tornado. Although the straight line winds looked pretty bad. I’ve been trying to determine the source of the storm. Looking at climate info Mecca normally does not get much if any of a Monsoon, too far West, protected by a land mass from Easterly flows. May have been a cut off low, which seem to happen more during El Nino.
Look at the direction of the current sea at South America.
http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/ocean/surface/currents/orthographic=-38.17,0.00,1045
Anthony! How DARE you make a prediction that can be proven or disproven within a couple of years? And you call yourself a climate scientist. Remember…no short term predictions and keep it vague.